Cornerstone Church, Swansea
Believing passionately that is it possible to communicate the gospel in both word and deed, Cornerstone makes everything they do accessible and natural - with lots of bridging opportunities between community and church. And the congregation is growing...
Do people become Christians through social action projects? Cornerstone Church's experience proves that they do! With a wide range of initiatives serving their local community, the church frequently sees people giving their lives to Jesus – recently counting 20 in a period of just a few months...
The Gap - working with those on the edge
The church is based in a converted GPO Sorting Office and is ideally situated between three deprived council estates. Their projects vary from a drama club to a football team; a play group for toddlers to a scheme to help children discover and cook different types of food. One of their most successful projects to date has been The Gap which worked with those on the edge of exclusion from school. It reached around 170 people every year who were disengaged, feeling hopeless and often dealing with difficult situations at home. The course helped with social skills, qualifications, Duke of Edinburgh awards and skills needed for employment. It intervened at a critical point in young people’s lives and helped hundreds of them into jobs. Emma joined the course and now, at 22, says she is the only one of her contemporaries who isn’t a mum. She found the teaching and optimism of The Gap made her want to get the most out of life so she got a job at a local supermarket then moved on to a chemist where she is now training to become a pharmaceutical assistant. Craig was involved in social disturbances and anti-social behaviour before he took part in a nine-month Gap programme. He went on to complete a plastering apprenticeship and now works for a security firm installing cameras around the UK. He attributes his turnaround to the fact The Gap helped him at a key stage in his teenage years. The Gap has been such a success that not only have Cornerstone been asked to speak about it around the UK as an example of best practice, the model was eventually taken on by the Government.
The Gap has been such a success that not only have Cornerstone been
asked to speak about it around the UK as an example of best practice,
the model was eventually taken on by the Government.
Being welcoming and accessible - and the cost
As well as running all their social action projects, Cornerstone Church host a multitude of events that members of the church can invite their non-Christian friends to for some fun. An average month might see them do wine tasting, watch a football match on a big screen or organise a fundraising tea. These social activities allow relationships to be built up naturally and as a result the church always has a large number of new visitors on a Sunday. This of course has an impact on their services. Pastor Julian Richards explains, “We always have lots of visitors on a Sunday so we have to make the service as welcoming for them as possible. This has meant sacrifices for the congregation – for example we have shortened our worship times down from 40 minutes to less than 15. We make sure we have events with longer times of worship at other times in the month so that we can continue to worship and seek God, but our priority on a Sunday is making sure visitors find the service – and therefore God - accessible.”
We always have lots of visitors on a Sunday so we have to make the
service as welcoming for them as possible. This has meant sacrifices for
the congregation – we have shortened our worship times down
from 40 minutes to less than 15 - but our priority on a Sunday is making
sure visitors find the service – and therefore God - accessible.
'It has to be natural'
Cornerstone Church aim to have a creative combination of word and deed activities that may draw many members of the community to Jesus but as Julian underlines, they are cautious of pushing Christianity on anyone, “We desperately want people to come to faith but at the same time we’re nervous about all our projects involving an element of preaching in them. If you run a programme for vulnerable people and then try and tell them about Jesus it could be perceived that you’re trying to exploit them and that's the last thing we want. That can of course make people feel manipulated and they put up barriers to your message; it has to be natural. For example when we have people referred to us for counselling we explain from the outset that we can provide secular or Christian counselling or a combination of both. It’s amazing how many take us up on having a Christian element and that allows us to introduce the gospel in an appropriate way.”
If you run a programme for vulnerable people and then try and tell them
about Jesus it could be perceived that you’re trying to exploit them.
That can make people feel manipulated and they put up barriers
to your message; it has to be natural. For example when we have people
referred to us for counselling we explain from the outset that we can
provide secular or Christian counselling or a combination of both.
Julian Richards, Pastor
The future
Looking to the future, Julian’s wife and church Pastor Sarah says “We recognise that some projects have a certain shelf-life and it’s important not to cling on to things or to wear people out. The brilliant thing with having new people join the church all the time is you always have new skills coming in and people with fresh energy to serve! At the moment we’re researching whether we will do a project for refugees in the area, start a choir and/or set up an internet cafe. While we don’t mind if projects naturally run their course, we don’t want to be involved in ‘flash in the pan’ events that aren’t sustainable. We want to make sure everything we do is well researched and well resourced and it takes time to get all that in place.”
Inspired? Thinking about what you could do in your community? Sarah and Julian share their advice:
- The simplest way to work out what to do is to match the gifts and skills you have in your church to the needs in your community. It’s important to talk to people to find out their needs and to make sure you’re not duplicating work done by other organisations.
- Make sure your projects are well planned and well thought through, and that your team is trained and qualified for their task.
- Don’t be put off by money (or the lack of it!). There are loads of things you can do that don’t require much money. We started our football programme with about £300 which was enough for nets, balls and a few shirts. Even small programmes can have a big impact. You’ll always find local businesses who want to give back to the community and are happy to donate as well.
- You can end up very busy when you really get stuck in to your community and you can’t do everything! Find team leaders who are passionate about the project and about the community, train them up and support them on an on-going basis rather than trying to do everything yourself.
- Be strategic in your community work – random acts of kindness are worthy but to build relationships with people you need to think longer term and start reputable and sustainable projects.
If you’d like to chat to the Cornerstone team about their work and how you could do something similar, you can email them on info@cornerstonechurch.co.uk.
You can also find out more about their vision and projects by visiting the Cornerstone website.
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Would your church value help from Tearfund to consider how it can become God’s hands and feet in your local community? The Discovery course is a practical process, led by skilled practitioners to help you maximise the strengths and aspirations of your church. Find out more at Discovery
Liza Hoeksma, Summer 2010